One Way or Another
by Frogkillah
Summary: This is a story that has characters from Bleach. This is in no way part of the manga/anime. Hope you enjoy. Rated T for some language from our favorite strawberry.
1. Chapter 1

_A/n: Hey readers! I was very bored one day and while thinking about my favorite anime, Bleach, I decided to make a random story out of it. There is no connection between this story and the manga/anime at all other than the names. I might include a few references here and there just for the giggles. Anyways, this is my first fan fic so as half of you who read this leave the story, I'd like to say enjoy for the people who decide to read this. The first chapter is a bit on the short side to server as a prologue. Sooo yeah. Hope you enjoy! Criticism is greatly appreciated and even if you hate everything about my story, I'd like to hear it. Any problem you find will help me so don't hesitate to be a critic._

_Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. I merely used the characters. Please support the official release. _

**One Way or Another**

I sighed, thoughts filling my mind as I sat in the waiting room. The nurse said the surgeon was preparing and would be back soon. Why am I here? You ask. Well I sit here because of a stupid contract that once I think back on, was a horrible idea in the first place. It was a military contract that once signed, enabled the government to have full control of the one who signed it. That being me. They decided to put me in a program which experimented with new cyborg technology. They haven't gotten far in the project though. I heard all they have so far is a prototype chip that once installed in the brain, should theoretically allow the user to have augmented senses with sharp reflexes. They were trying to make a super human in simple terms. So far all the subjects have either been pronounced dead or insane beyond self-conscious, it was a pernicious experiment. Lucky for me right? I sit here, minutes away from my death it seems. I look out the window and see the exquisite Karakura for what seems like the last time. This will most likely be the last time I will see any one of my loved ones. My family, my friends, even my childhood adversary. I quickly ran through my memories of my life. I felt a pang in my chest as I realized I won't ever see this again. I became angry at the thought. I am forfeiting my life away for some stupid project that has a low success rate.

"Ichigo Kurosaki?" I heard my name being called by a nurse. All my feelings of anger were purged in an instant only to be replaced by despair. I willed myself to stand up and slowly walked toward the outstretched door. Grievance washed around me. This isn't how I wanted my life to end. I wanted to die with a smile on my face, not with my head being cut opened. "Mr. Kurosaki, this way." the nurse said with a static face. I reluctantly followed her. We walked into a lightly lit room that seemed featureless other than a bed in the middle with contraptions above it. "My death bed," I muttered to myself. "The specialist will be here shortly. Please use the dressing room just outside the room to change into the clothes we given you." She left shortly after that. I left the room and entered the dressing room to find the normal hospital clothes they give to patients. I changed to them and left to head back into the room. A few minutes later I heard the door open to reveal a doctor with a white lab coat. "Hello Mr. Kurosaki. As you know you have signed a warrant allowing us to have full cooperation with any assistance we may need from you. Correct? That being said, were you told about the event taking place today?" I nodded my head yes, not once letting my scowl disappear. "Alright. I will now administer the sedatives so please lay down." I went cold all over. "This is it. My last moments of conscious in this world. I didn't do everything I wanted to! Hell! I didn't even finish my senior year in high school yet!" I shuffled toward the bed and slowly lied down on it. "This is it….Goodbye world." I felt the needle pierce my right arm and the sedatives quickly knocked me out. The last thought in my head before I fell into the recess of my mind was quite humorous in a disturbing way. "Who knows? Maybe I'll live and escape from this hell hole. Maybe I could use my new strength on these jerks." I thought before I lost all thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/n: Soo here's the second chapter to my story. I have the first 3 typed up already so don't expect daily updates after the third one. Sorry if the story is going a bit slow. I'm trying to include details in the story without boring the reader out of there mind. So yeah. Constructive criticism is appreciated._

_Bleach anime/manga all belongs to Tite Kubo. I just used the characters. Please support the official release. _

"mnhhh" I moaned. I found myself lying face first onto a bed. "Where am I?" I said to myself. This wasn't my home. There was no alarm clock next to me on my desk. There wasn't the voice of one of my little sisters calling me to wake up. There wasn't my dad who tried to sneak attack me every morning to "Increase my awareness." There was just…nothing. Only a bed in a room. That's it. I hurriedly scanned my memories to find an explanation to why I was here. Then I remembered. "I'm alive?" I said to myself. Letting my voice echo throughout the room. "I'm alive!" I said louder. I wasn't dead, at least not yet. I quickly rolled onto my back and checked my body for any injuries. I saw none but then a thought occurred to me. Carefully, I snaked my hand to the back of my head and felt a scar. It wasn't long or wide but still there. It wasn't a dream. They did cut my head open and I somehow lived. I sat there for minutes until I heard the door handle open. Standing at the doorway was the same doctor who looked at me with piercing eyes, as though to study every bit of me.

"Hello, Mr. Kurosaki," he said with an emotionless voice. "It seems the transfer of the chip to your brain was successful. However, we noticed nothing different from you when we stitched up the cut. The chip was a failure. We decided not to remove it for it would surely mean death for you. You should be happy Mr. Kurosaki. You survived." The doctor said. "You are free to go and live your normal life. The chip should have no effect at you at all so don't worry about it. Your clothes are outside the dressing room." He said then left.

I just sat there. I lived, I survived against the odds. I will live another day. I would see everyone again. The thought excited me. I exited the clear room and changed clothes and left the hospital. Thoughts started to swarm my head. I couldn't keep all the excitement I felt. I ran home, eager to see my sisters again and my idiot father.

After 3 miles of running, I reached my home. My home was a part of a clinic my father owned and it was two floors. I opened the door slowly. Inside I saw my family in a state of solemnity. My sisters sat around the dinner table. One had her head down, refusing to let anyone see her tears, while the other one just sat and cried.

"Dad I miss Ichigo," she said with tears.

"I know I miss him too." He replies.

My sister with her head down just muttered enough to barely be audible. "First mom dies and now you too? Damn it Ichigo." She said with her voice threatening to break.

"Don't worry guys; Ichigo is going to be happy." My father said.

"Nah dad, not with you here" I said nonchalantly. Everyone just froze and looked at me.

"ICHIGO!"

Both my sisters yell and they run up to hug me. "Don't worry Yuzu, Karin, I'm fine." They both cried onto my shirt as I just held them. My father looked at me and then yelled, "ICHIGOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YOU'RE ALIVEEE!" he ran toward me and I just sidestepped along with my sisters as he falls to where I was.

"Yeah I'm still here dad." I said with annoyance. I loved my old man but sometimes, he was too much annoyance to handle. We just sat there for hours as I hugged my sisters and spoke to my father about what happened. After that I looked at the time at realized it was nearing midnight.

"Come on guys, let's go to sleep. All of you have school tomorrow." My dad said.

Without realizing it until now, I was immensely tired. I took my sisters to bed and tucked them both in. As I closed the door to their room, my dad talked to me.

"Ichigo, I'm glad you're ok son." He said. He actually surprised me. He always had a goofy attitude toward everything that this serious side of him really shocked me. "Don't worry dad. I'm fine." I said. My dad hugged me and for once I hugged back. I was actually alive. I am with the people I love. I said goodnight to my dad and went into my room. The room had a nostalgic feel to it even though I was only gone for a couple of hours. I sighed and changed into a T-shirt and sweat pants. As I lied onto my bed, I couldn't stop all the thoughts going through my head. After an hour of thinking, I decided I couldn't sleep. I put on some normal clothes and a hoodie and opened my window. Even though my house was two floored, I could easily maneuver my way down to the ground from the agility I gotten from all the sports I did. Karate also helped with some coordination since I been in it for 13 years. "I've changed so much from that 4 year old kid haven't I?" I thought as I reached the ground. I started to walk in a random direction. I usually took night walks when I had a lot of things in my mind. After walking mindlessly for 2 hours, I looked at my surroundings. I was in downtown Karakura where all the nightlife took place. I was always a chaste for things like this. All these influences about sex and how great it was always annoyed me. Every teenager like me always thought about stuff like this but I would never let hormones take over. I started to walk back home. I was getting tired.

On the way home I saw an old woman with a small purse walking across the street. She looked at me and I waved back. As I turned the corner I heard a yell and turned back seeing her on the floor with some punk running away with her purse. I started to pursue him. He was fast and was good at jumping over fences and bushes. I kept the chase on, thankful for my experience in so many sports. He climbed a fence and jumped from the top of it to a nearby house. He grabbed onto the ledge and climbed on the roof. I followed suit and continued to chase him. He ran from roof top to roof top and finally made his way to the ground. I sprinted with all my strength and followed him. Just then, I felt warmth engulf my body. I felt like I was full of energy. I jumped from the roof and instead of landing behind the running thief I landed right on top of him. I seriously think I just jumped 15 feet. I didn't have much time to think as he got up and pulled out a knife. He lunged to stab me but the warmth came back and everything seemed to slow. He moved like a snail and I just looked at him. I stepped to the side and used my hand to put the blade between my fingers and hold on to his fist tightly. With my other hand I punched him squarely on the jaw. He was instantly knocked out. I just stood there. "Did I just do that?" I said out loud. I literally jumped 15 feet and knocked out a guy holding a knife with no effort. I grabbed the purse and jogged back to the lady. She had an officer with her and after explaining what happened, the officer went to retrieve the thief. I handed the lady the purse and she spent 5 minutes thanking me. After that I headed straight for home. After climbing onto the roof I entered my room and changed into more comfortable clothes. I looked at the clock. 5:27. Great. 2 hours of sleep will be enough to explain to people at school why I am still alive. I decided to keep this night's incident a secret however. I slowly fell to sleep and let my body relax.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/n: Alright here's chapter 3. After this it may take a while for this story to be updated because of school and other personal things. Thanks for reading and enjoy!_

_Bleach anime/manga belongs to Tite Kubo. I'm only using the characters. Please support the official release._

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

"Jeez morning already?" I muttered to myself. As I open my eyes I hear my door being slammed open. Instinctively, I sat up and put my hands into a defensive position. I saw my father jump from the ground and try to kick my head with his feat. I grabbed his legs and used him momentum so send him to the wall. He slid down the wall and just lay on the ground with his nose bleeding. "Good…job…son…I taught you everything...I know…" He said as he became unconscious. "CRAZY OLD MAN! YOU AIMED FOR MY HEAD!" I said with my signature scowl. It was no use he was out cold. "Idiot…" I said and put on my school uniform. As I put it on I realized that I wouldn't have put this on if I wasn't lucky yesterday. The whole experience made me realize how much of life I would miss. Then I remembered about what I did to that thief yesterday and how I needed to keep that a secret for a while. "Ichi-nii!" Yuzu yelled from downstairs," Breakfast is ready!" I quickly put on my shoes and ran down stairs. Unaware that my father woke back up, he sighed. "I'm glad that you're still alive son…" I went downstairs to find Yuzu and Karin eating. After my mother died, Yuzu became the cook in the family since Karin didn't know how and my father's cooking was disgusting. "Hi Ichi-nii" Yuzu greeted. "Yo, Ichigo" Karin said more lazily. "Hey guys," I said "this tastes great Yuzu." She just looked at me and smiled. I was glad that I was still here with them. I looked at the time and nearly choked on my breakfast. I was late. I said thank you for the food and ran outside with my backpack.

I ran a good distance to my school before I decided I could walk the rest of the way. I shoved my hands in my pocket as I walked. When I turned around the corner I saw her, my best friend, Rukia. She had a "pride" thing from her family and always had her shoulders raised but for once in years, she had them down. I met her when I was in my freshmen year, she sat next to me and was cold to everyone but after months of trying, I became her friend. Compared to me she's half my size. She was walking slowly and I realized she has been depressed. I silently catch up to her. "Something bothering you miss?" I said to her. She turned slowly. "No sorry I'm oka-" she just stopped at stared at me. Her violet orbs looking into my amber ones. She just stared at me shock evident on her face. Just then, she used all her strength and kicked me in the shin. "OW WHAT THE HELL MIDGET?!" I yelled grabbing my shin. She kept her head down and whispered. "You idiot….why didn't you tell me you were alive? I thought you were dead!" she said with the last part looking up at me. I noticed the tears in her eyes and was shocked. In the 4 years I've known Rukia she never once cried. She always had a tough exterior attitude because of her "pride" and I never seen her break down. I just sadly smiled and pulled her in a hug. She was tense for a second but then hugged back and put her head on my chest. She just sobbed into my shirt as I held her tight. "It's okay Rukia. I'm here. I'll protect you. I'll keep my promise."

_Flashback_

I sighed. Today was a complete bore. All day the teachers kept talking about everything she already knew. The private school she attended before was much farther than any of the classes here. That kid was there too. He was freakishly tall. Well to me at least. 5'9 is pretty tall compared to me. He kept trying to talk to me. I remember seeing that kid for the first time a couple of months ago. His bright orange hair stood out and surprised me when I learned that was his natural hair color. He kept talking to me no matter how many times I pushed him away. What was his name? Ichigo Arisawa? No, that doesn't seem right. Oh I remember now. Ichigo Kurosaki. I was lost in thought and I failed to notice the heavy steps behind me. I felt two arms grab my waist and shove me to an alley way. "What the? Who the hell are you?!" I yelled. Some guy was grabbing onto my wrists and held on so tightly that they threatened to break. Before he could say anything, a fist came into view and punched him squarely in the jaw. He let go of me and I nearly fell to the floor. Another hand grabbed my wrist; this one was softer and less hostile. I looked up to see him, a man with bright orange hair. "I think you should leave before I decide to come over there and give you more than a bruise." He said with a fierce scowl in his face that struck fear in the man's heart. He quickly ran away from him in complete fear. After leaving, Ichigo looked down at me. "Can you stand on your own?" He asked. I just noticed that he had his hand on mine and I felt red rush toward me cheeks. "Y-yeah, I can. Umm Ichigo right? Thanks for helping me." I said. The shock of it all was getting to me and I felt my legs start to give away. I felt him grab my waist and kept me still. "Come on. You don't look fine. I'll take you to my father. He works as a doctor in a clinic next to my house. He can see if you're ok." He said, his amber eyes staring into mine. "T-thanks. My name is Rukia by the way." He looked at me and nodded.

He led me down to a place of Karakura Town I haven't been before. It was a quiet and peaceful community. We arrived at the house/ clinic. I saw a man inside that faintly resembled Ichigo. He looked up at me and made a goofy grin. "Wow Ichigo! Didn't think you had the stones to bring a girl home with you! So, when am I expecting grandchildren?" He said. Ichigo silenced him with a kick to the face. I looked at him shocked. "Don't worry he's always like this." He said with a blush appearing on his face from what his father said. After his father came to, he assessed my body and only found bruises which would heal soon. "Thank you Kurosaki-san. It was a pleasure to meet you." I said with a smile. "It was a pleasure to meet you too Rukia-chan. I expect you and Ichigo to have kids soon. Don't worry I'm usually gone on the weekends along with my daughters." He said with a grin. I blushed and Ichigo kicked his father in the face again. "SHUT UP DAD!" He yelled, face turning red. "Hey Rukia if you don't mind, can I take you home? I don't want a repeat of today." I thought about it for a minute and decided it was fine. We walked down the road to where I lived until I decided to ask him questions. "Thanks again Ichigo for saving me." "Hm? Oh no problem. I protect my friends." I stopped at hearing that as intense guilt washed over me. I've been ignoring him for months and he still thinks of me as a friend? "Why do you say that? I've been acting like a jerk towards you this whole time!" I said. "Don't worry about it. I think of you as my friend and I will go any lengths to make sure you are ok." He said, his amber eyes looking straight at me. "But…why?" I asked feebly. He looked right at me. "Rukia." His seriousness in his voice made me look at him. "I will protect you with my life. I promise over my soul. Don't ever say that I won't." This man….he's a saint. His eyes showed no trace of lie or uncertainty. It was all determination. "Thank you..." I said. We walked all the way to my house and said goodbye. Since then he's been my friend.

_End of flashback _

She still cried into my arms. She tried to pull away but I held on, not letting go until she was perfectly fine. "Ichigo, we'll be late to class if we don't go." She said with a hoarse voice. "I don't care. I'm not letting go until you are perfectly fine." I replied. We embraced each other for what felt like an hour until we headed to school.

It was lunch once we arrived. Everyone was surprised to see me. "ICHIGOOOOOO YOU'RE ALIVEEEEE" My friend, Kiego, yelled. "Yeah. What sup?" I said as I side stepped his tackle. All my friends gathered around me. My old adversary, Tatsuki, started talking first. "So strawberry you're ok huh?" She said. Even she didn't show it, I could tell she was immensely relived. Tatsuki was my childhood friend I had since I joined the karate dojo. She comforted me when my mother died. Every day in the dojo we would spar until I was dead tired or she has won. It wasn't until high school that I finally won. "Kurosaki-kun!" My friend Inoue happily said. She was Tatsuki's friend that I met in middle school. We were sort of friends because of Tatsuki but once high school came around. We became close friends. "Ichigo, glad to see you're ok." My friend, Chad as we call him, said while Ishida, a glasses wearing rival, nodded. I met Chad in middle school when he was being threatened by some punks. Ishida I met in my freshman year. You could say we have that friendly rival thing. "Hey Ichigo, glad to see you're ok." said Mizuro. He looked up from his phone and looked at me with a smile. That's something you don't see everyday since he always is talking to his older girl friends. All my friends were here. The people I would die over. The people I swore to protect. Rukia just smiled at me along with all my friends. "I'm home" I thought to myself. Yes, I'm back, I'll keep my vow. To protect everyone, one way or another.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/n: So after 2 weeks of waiting you get this...shit. I was busy with school, birthday, and a really bad fever so that's my excuse I guess. I'll try to update more frequently. Enjoy!_

"…which is where the mark of the Edo period was official." My teacher just kept droning on but I didn't listen to a single word. Thoughts were flooding my head. After I came back to school and assured everyone I'm okay, I've felt…..weird. I don't know how to explain it. I saw…everything. I noticed every movement in the classroom to even the slightest shift of an arm. I noticed everything. I couldn't focus on one thing no matter how hard I tried. It was a tornado of information that couldn't be deciphered. I'm not saying it's a bad thing since I discovered various things like how my teacher always shifted her right foot whenever she was going to call on someone, or how I could see Rukia tilt her head slightly to make sure I was ok. I was unaccustomed to all this, I couldn't stop seeing everything. I ran my hand through my hair, and then I felt an elbow hit my side. "Ichigo, focus!" My teacher yelled. I looked at her and realized that I haven't listened to a word she said. "Oh, uh, my bad I was deep in thought." I said grabbing the back of my head awkwardly. I felt the stitches. "Oh you're deep in thought are you? Well what's the answer to the question I wrote on the board then?" She said with a smirk. I looked at the board behind her and was in shock. We were already in the math hour of school; I spent over 2 hours thinking. As I looked at the problem, I realized that it was Geometry. Of course, the one subject I'm horrible at. I quickly read the question on the board. 'What ray bisects angle AD? What can be learned from this?' I seriously hated life right now. Just when I was about to say that I didn't know to my class who was glaring at me, the warmth came back. "Ray C bisects angle AD which makes angle AC and angle DC congruent. Since the angles are congruent, any point along the bisector is equidistant to segment A or segment D." I said, unable to stop myself. My teacher just looked at me with a shocked expression. "You got the question correct but how did you know about the equidistant theorem?" She said. "I read it somewhere." I said. To be honest, I did read it somewhere. Freshmen year, I was walking to class when I found a math book on my desk. It belonged to the teacher but I remember skimming through the pages. I clearly remembered seeing the chapter but not really trying to read it. My mind did read it however, page 547 section 7 dash 1. I remembered all of it. I worried, thinking the teacher would think that I somehow cheated from a friend or something. My worries were for naught as she simply turned to the board and wrote the next question for the class. The class was a fickle when it came to being surprised by the smart kids, but this was an exception. I heard whispers and saw stares towards me. "So Ichigo? Since when did they make a steroid for brain capacity?" Someone from the class joked. I glared at him and that made him look away only to be pelted in the face by a chalk. "Maybe you should take some so you can pass this class!" My teacher angrily exclaimed at him. The class snickered but was quiet once again.

The final bell finally rang. I grabbed my bag and headed to the door, not wanting to talk to anyone. My thoughts were a jumbled mess as I left the purgatory school as some called it. I quickly made my way home in silence. As I opened the door, my father came bursting out. Without a second thought I tilted my head to the left and dodged his punch while I used my right foot to trip him. "Son! You make me so proud that I trained such a successful fighte-"He was silenced as I closed the door. I had a bad day and I didn't want to explain to the police why my father was in a mangled mess on the porch. I saw Yuzu and Karin watching T.V, well at least Yuzu was, Karin was just asleep on the couch. "Hey Yuzu, whatcha watching?" I asked, the men on the T.V. looked as though they would be in a Shakespearean play. "Hey Ichi-nii! I'm just watching a play that was made by some guy named Shakespeare. Don't you read his books?" Of course I was right; no normal play would have those kinds of clothes with flimsy rapiers. "Yeah, I do. Anyways I'll be upstairs so don't wait for me to start dinner." I said as I headed to the stairs. "_And for that offence, Immediately we do exile him hence." _I turned and saw Yuzu starting to tear up. "Yuzu, chill, it's just a play." I said trying to console her. "Nooooo you don't understand Ichi-nii! Romeo was banished from Verona so now he won't be able to see Juliet! How sad!" She said. I just looked at her and smiled, out of all the things that go on with this family, a play makes her sad. Wow. I went upstairs and closed my door. I lay on my bed and just stared at the ceiling. To everyone else, this was a boring day. To me, it was a crazy one, from stopping a thief to seeing everything to just not be able to think straight in bed. I let my eyes close and just tried to sleep.

"Hey, Ichigo! Get up, we're having dinner." Karin's voice came from the stairwell. I looked at the time, only an hour of sleep. I rolled out of bed and headed downstairs. I saw Karin and Yuzu eating while watching another T.V. show. After looking around the corner, I saw my dad wasn't here. "Don't worry, he's not here, said something about going to a business trip. He'll be here tomorrow I think." I thanked Karen and let my guard down. Once I grabbed dinner, I sat on the couch with them. The show itself was really cliché as it involved a teenager that had a sword with powers that was going to some abroad land to find someone so that they would not be killed for treason. Once he met the leader, he was about to fight him but instead fought the brother of the person he's trying to save. The story itself was lulling me to sleep. He trained hard to be able to clear her name, and at the end had to fight her brother who was torn in between helping her or uplifting the law. _"Byakuya! She's your sister! You can't just leave her"! _ I yawned and grabbed my phone. I decided it was time to do homework so I went upstairs before I heard anymore of this crappy story. "_BANKAI! Tensa Za-"_I shut the door, annoyed with the show. I grabbed my books and worked on my homework. There was one really difficult question and a thought came to my head. Maybe I could use the chip thing and make me smart again? I tried to will it to work but it was useless. I just closed my book and went to bed. It was only 9:00 but I was mentally tired from the day. I shut my eyes and a final thought popped in my head. What would happen if the chip worked? Then I fell in the hands of sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/n: Its hereeeeeeeeeeeee! Finally. A good chapter that isn't shit! Sorta! Well here you go enjoy! Please don't hate me for taking days ;~;_

_Bleach anime/manga belongs to Tite Kubo. Please support the official release. _

"…Ichigo" a faint noise came from somewhere. "…Ichigo get up" Again, it seemed louder. "GET THE HELL UP ICHIGO!" I sat up and slammed my head into…another head? "What the hell Ichigo? That freakin hurt!" I turned my head into the direction of the noise and saw a blurry image. As it started to clear, I saw Rukia on the ground grabbing her forehead. "Get up you fool!" She stood up and elbowed my stomach.

"I'm up, I'm up." I fell onto my bed in pain. Once I sat up, I saw Rukia in her school uniform, just looking at me. I looked at the clock next to my bed, 3:46 A.M. I just sat there without moving, it took me a hit in the head to realize what was going on. "What the hell Rukia?! Why are you here?" I said, rubbing my head.

"Ichigo, what the hell is wrong with you? You've been out of it all day! The government didn't screw you up did they?" She just kept asking, with her voice rising. Right as I was about to respond, I heard footsteps out in the hallway.

"Ah shit… Rukia go hi-…Rukia?" I looked around for the petite girl but she was nowhere to be found.

"Ichi-nii is everything alright? I heard some noise." Yuzu walked into the room in her pajamas.

"Yeah yeah I'm fine, just had a nightmare that's all." I tried to assure her.

"Then why do you have a red mark on your head?" I just stuttered and tried to make up an excuse.

"I uh fell off the bed. Yeah. It was a crazy nightmare, some muscular maniac tried to get me to fight him with a sword." I just made up randomly. I remembered seeing it in some manga.

"Whoa really?" Yuzu said with her mouth opened.

"Yeah he was all huge and had an eye patch." I tried to make up the image as I went along to try and sound more convincing.

"Scary. Well, if you need anything, Karin and I will be here in case the bad guy shows up again." Yuzu said, trying to sound confident.

"Yeah okay Yuzu, I'll make sure to call you." I said as she closed the door. I sighed out in relief. My closet door slid open and Rukia jumped off of it. "Never knew you could fit in that. I guess you live up to your nickname." I earned a kick in the shin for that.

"Ichigo shut the hell up! I'm trying to sleep. Can't you and your girl friend do _that_ more quietly?!" Karin yelled as she busted into my room, seeing Rukia. She closed the door leaving me and Rukia with our faces tinged red.

"Anyways, what do you want Rukia?" I said in a quieter voice. "Just go outside." She said as she jumped out of the window. I sighed; disappointed I couldn't get a good night's rest. A few minutes later I landed beside her.

"Ichigo tell me what's wrong with you or I will kick your ass." Rukia just glared at me. I couldn't say no to the midget or she would kill me. So I started to recount everything that has happened since I left the hospital. I told her about the thief and what happened at school and other things I've noticed. "… I think its side effects from the chip; although I had no idea they would be this notable." I finished.

"Ichigo I need to be honest with you." Rukia said keeping her head down as we walked to a nearby park.

"What do you mean Rukia?" I said, Rukia is my best friend, she would tell me everything right?

"Look… do you even remember signing that contract?" I was a bit taken back from the question as I thought she would say something else.

"Err well now that you mention it, no I don't remember. I thought I just signed it on accident when I was doing my collage applications." I said truthfully.

"Well….please don't hate me… I signed it for you." I stopped and looked at her. She just turned and looked at me with a guilt ridden face.

"You what?... how?... you couldn't have forged my signature…you're my friend aren't you?..." I just asked, still in shock.

"I did forge it Ichigo. I did it because it was my job." She said while looking down still.

"Your job?! Oh haha Rukia! Never knew signing up random high school students to life-threatening experiments was your job! What the fuck Rukia!" I just yelled out in anger. I didn't care who woke up.

"Ichigo just let me explain." She started to say.

"Yeah yeah explain to me why the fuck you would do that to me." I said, anger still tinting my voice. By then we arrived at the park.

"Look just sit down. Alright where to start…ok. Look Ichigo, I didn't lie when I said I came from a private school, I just never said what KIND of school." I just sat there trying to take in each word. "I was in a government run school that trained individuals to be at top performance in both knowledge and physical body. I was intelligent yes, but I was weak. Before I would take another year or classes, I was adopted into the Kuchiki family. My brother was one of the highest officials in the government. Since he adopted me, I immediately graduated and was sent on missions."

"What kind of missions?" I asked, I was unsure if this was real or just a prank.

"Special missions. Look promise to keep this a secret from everyone, even your family." I nodded in agreement. "Good, as I was saying. Once I graduated I got sent on missions. Of course, when you graduate, you get a departing present." She turned her back on me. She started to lift her hands to her head.

"What t he hell are you do-" I got cut off as all the breath in my lungs was taken away. When she parted her hair, I saw a scar that resembled the one I had.

"Ichigo… I didn't want you to know like this…" Rukia said in a soft voice. I just stared at her in shock.

She had a chip.

"Before you say anything Ichigo, lemme finish." She turned back to face me. "The chip has a higher chance of success rate if the bearer is in top condition. This is why I chose you. However, something happened that we weren't expecting." She said looking at me straight in the eyes. "The chip, is like a an add on to the brain. The stronger someone is, the stronger the chip is. It responds to people's will. The chip on most users was supposed to work after a year in implant. Yours worked in one day."

"So what? That means I'm special or something?" I said. I kept my scowl on my face but inside I was in turmoil.

"Yes, it does, more than you know. This wasn't planned Ichigo. I was supposed to tell you little by little as the year went by but that didn't work did it? If what you told me is true, you already have the power of an agent that has been with the device for 2 years." She said. Her eyes said everything; there was no hint of lie in them. "As you train to better yourself, so will the chip work more effectively. As for the missions, once your vision gets fully enhanced, you'll see ghosts or souls as we call them. There is the good souls which are people that died recently and need to be sent to move on, and there is hollows, evil souls which kill humans. People like me, are to eliminate hollows and guide souls to the next world. We used to have no name but the guys joked around and called themselves, Shinigami, as a gag. The name stuck for decades and that's what we officially are, Soul Reapers." She finished.

"Alright then. You've gone crazy." I just said and stood up.

"Ichigo wait you can't jus-"Rukia began to say but was cutoff.

**Urnghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!**

I just stood there in shock. What the hell was that? That was like some monster or something! I looked toward the noise and noticed it came from the neighborhood I lived at. "YUZU! KARIN!" I dashed off to reach them. Whatever that was, it sounded like it wanted to kill. Once I reached home I saw a blurry image inch closer. It looked like some 8ft tall monster was walking toward us. I noticed in its hand was a person, Yuzu. "Rukia, you see that too right?" I said with panic in my voice, I wasn't sure if I was going crazy. Just as I finish speaking, I see Rukia run up to the thing with…with…a sword? "RUKIA WAIT!" She's gonna get herself killed! I started to chase after her but with one leap she was at the things height and she cut it in half. She just fell to the ground and landed on her feet. Yuzu started to fall but I caught her in time before she hit the ground. "YUZU? YUZU!" I yelled at her, she wasn't waking up.

"Ichigo, don't worry, none of your family as had their souls taken."

"What the hell?..."

"Now do you believe me? This is real Ichigo." She just says to me as the sword just disappears. "That right there was a hollow, they are like ghosts but evil. I doubt you could see them at all but you must've noticed the damage it did to the ground right? They go towards people at random but seem to target users with the chip.

"No, I saw it. Just barely, it was a blurry image. And….are you saying this was my fault?.." I said just looking at her.

" I didn't mean it like that… and you did?..Who are you really? There was no way you could've saw something like that so soon."

I just clenched my fists. Yuzu got hurt because of me. Because of me, she got hurt… I was supposed to protect her. I can't do that if one of those things comes again…unless…

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, High School student. Occupation: Shinigami."


End file.
